Phonological Skills and Learning to Read

Goswami and Bryant assemble an impressive number of research studies which bear on their thesis, outlining them clearly and succinctly. They write persuasively but never dogmatically, revealing a refreshing willingness to give credit to theoretical positions other than their own. This book deserves serious attention by all those who are keen to relate the practice of the teaching of reading to theory which is firmly grounded in careful empirical work. - Katherine Perera, The Times Higher Education Supplement I have thoroughly enjoyed reading this monograph...The argument is a delight...This will be a very valuable contribution to thinking about the role of phonological processing in reading and in learning to read, but it will also be usable as an undergraduate text. I shall certainly consider using it to support my own course on Reading and Understanding. - Professor Geoffrey Underwood, Reader in Cognitive Psychology, University of Nottingham This book really gives one the feeling that progress has been made. The meticulous stock-taking evident in the extensive literature review has brought this out. The great puzzle of the phoneme in literacy is virtually solved. The hunt for this solution has been one of the most exciting enterprises in psychology today. Moreover, it has brought developmental psychology into direct contact with educational practice. This book is scholarly yet clear, didactic yet fun to read. It can be recommended to anybody who has ever wondered how children learn to read...I am wholly enthusiastic about this book, and I believe that it will be much in demand as a set course book. - Dr Uta Frith, MRC Cognitive Development Unit, London I think this is an excellent and timely book. It has been a pleasure reviewing it. - Dr Charles Hulme, Reader in Psychology, University of York Perhaps the real contribution of this attractive monograph is that it offers a new conceptualisation of the relationship between speech and literacy which can give an exciting direction for future research. - P.H.K. Seymour, Professor of Cognitive Psychology, University if Dundee, in The Times Higher Educational Supplement